So Early In The Afternoon
by Zarius
Summary: AKA "The Essence of the Demon Headmaster", a tribute to the works of Gillian Cross using original characters


**SO EARLY IN THE AFTERNOON**

**(Aka "The Essence of the Demon Headmaster")**

**WRITTEN BY ZARIUS**

* * *

With the night comes quiet.

In the Houston household, not one solitary soul is sleepless, all are

Then the cravings kick in. And suddenly the eyes snap open.

The urge to consume the most far-fetched of foods is commanding. It propels the body into motion.

Rosemary Houston obeyed the instruction, despite knowing her choice of concoction would gross out other members of her family

She got up, headed into the kitchen, and placed a plate of broccoli on the oven stove.

As it as heating up, she took out a cereal box and poured its contents into an unwashed bowl she'd forgotten to clean.

Once the broccoli was thoroughly cooked, she took it out and poured it over the cereal, before adding Guinness rather than milk.

It was a breakfast normal circumstances would never have called for, yet for a pregnant woman, her choices seemed perfectly logical.

She entered the living area and eagerly switched the television on. There was nothing much on the box except rolling news coverage recapping the last few sordid details of the day before and text services letting you know what dreary nonsense would be on in a matter of hours in this forthcoming day, but it seemed to relax Rosemary more than genuine sleep had provided.

Eventually, she would have company as her husband, Craig, came into the room, fully rested and awakening early so as to reach his place of work at the met.

He took notice of Rosemary's choice of breakfast.

"You're not at that again are you?" he said.

"You needn't worry, I resisted the chocolate syrup this time" Rosemary assured him

"Oh yes, such a victory, well earned, it only took the recent discovery of diabetes to keep you away from that" Craig said, pouring a bowl of cereal himself, only he chose to eat his corn flakes raw and without milk.

"You still haven't told me how work's been lately" Rosemary asked.

"The work is efficient, all you need to know"

"Oh come on Craig, I'm not some citizen on the street gawking at a disturbance, I'm your wife, everything's on a K.N.B"

"KNB?"

"Yes, **K**now **N**ow **B**asis"

"Efficiency is the basis"

"There you go again with this 'efficiency' nonsense; it's been the same tired loop since we left school all those years ago, ever since we were prefects"

"Oh it's not nonsense, the chief makes a point of reminding us of how important it is ever day we come into work"

Craig suddenly looked distant, as if he'd heard someone calling him from far away, and nobody else in the entire world seemed to matter for those precious few seconds as he uttered what came next

"The Chief is always so efficient; he wants us all to follow his example. To be good officers, powerful officers, we are his voice, we must be ready and waiting, we must be put to the test always"

"Are you OK dear?" Rosemary asked.

Suddenly, and almost to his relief, Craig snapped out of his distant stare and resumed eating his cereal.

A young and very worn down boy slowly slouched into the room.

"Morning Mum, Dad"

"Phillip, it's 5 in the morning, you're not due up for another few hours"

"What difference does the time make? It's going to run out on me all the same"

"Oh don't be so morbid lad, its just school"

"School's important Phillip, school will take you where you need to go" Craig assured him.

"But I want to be out there, in the night, stars lighting my path"

"School can take you there too, it can take you anywhere" Rosemary said.

"When I was a child, I had the best education. My headmaster was a marvellous man; it was the best school I'd ever been to"

"You must have been a choice pupil back then to shill that much" Phillip said.

"Phillip, how rude" Rosemary said.

"Oh pay him no mind dear, children will say childish things, it's just part of their DNA, I'd best be heading off now, catch you two and the unborn later" he said.

"I'll try not to have this without you" Rosemary said, patting her rather large pregnant belly with her right hand.

Craig got on his bike and peddled feverishly down the lane towards the local police station. As soon as he got in, he found the place a little rowdier than usual.

There was more joking, more singing, more of a good time to be had. His days at the station since the Chief had arrived had been met with such control and order, the likes of which he hadn't seen since school.

Perhaps this is what had reminded him of his days as a prefect, where there was almost an unholy halt on unruliness, those were the days of no singing, no shouting, no jokes, just a very tightly run ship with no fear or belief it could ever be scuttled.

Now something was different, and he wasn't sure if he could get so used to it, he expected it to be temporary, he had a hunch it would be.

He had made friends here however, and it would not be prudent of him to pop the balloon on their good time, so he kept his befuddlement hidden behind a most mannered query.

"Whatever is happening here?" he asked.

"The Chief took a day off" said Mark, a fellow officer and friend.

"A day off?"

"Yeah, to manage the help lines, we've been getting an awful lot of calls looking for someone to reach out, the Chief always listens, you see, always. Some say he gives the best advice"

Craig noticed the distance in Mark's demeanour as he said this, it strangely echoed his own. It was as if he was starting into a reflection of his own state of being whenever he too mentioned the Chief in a flattering light.

"What do you think the Chief will do when he gets back here, when he sees how rowdy you lot are being?"

"Oh we'll fall back in line, I don't know if you can tell, but it feels a lot like we know he's far too occupied to deal with us, like for the first time in a while, we feel, perhaps the word is, liberated. Very liberated. Whatever is going on with the help line, it must be commanding every bit of his attention"

Craig settled down at his desk and tried to concentrate on his work despite the noise, the chatter and the jokes. He wondered what the place would look like if they brought in a crook, either a thief or worse.

Hours passed, and soon it was noon. Suddenly and swiftly, the call to action came.

"We need someone to head off to 23 Cambridge Avenue, there's been a possible jumper spotted"

"I'll take it" Craig said, wanting to represent the force as what it had been since he joined, an efficient and composed front, and swiftly headed off to deal with the problem, fast as he could, on his trusty bicycle.

He arrived at a small cottage. Concerned villagers were pointing and making commotion amongst themselves at the sight of a desperate man standing on the edge of the roof, motioning to jump.

Craig noticed a ladder had been titled over and promptly propped it up so he could climb it.

As he got on the roof, Craig delicately balanced himself on the tiled roof, not wanting to tread too hard in case he slipped and hurtled straight into the man.

"Whatever is all this about?" he said.

The man did not turn to face Craig, he stood perfectly still, staring out at the brightly lit skies and taking in the sights of the community as they stared at his predicament with worried concern.

"He said I'd thank him when this was done, if I made it through today, it's odd to feel so tired, so early in the afternoon"

"Tired? As in exhausted?" Craig said.

"Of course not...tired of life, tired of it all"

Craig carefully approached the man, he intended to place

"Come closer and I'll jump" he said.

"You needn't tire of life; there is so much to see, so much to live for"

"Name one thing" said the man.

"Order

"He figured someone would say that...he always gives the best advice, he said whoever says these things should bring me to order, they'd know how. He said if I felt like a doll, I should be broken by them, there's no place in a perfected world for the broken. He said they'd know what to do. Do you?"

Craig felt something compel him to advance, and to do something reprehensible, to place a hand nimbly on the back of the man before him, and to push, as swiftly as he could, just enough to make it look like he had leapt of his own accord. It would be so easy.

Craig's phone rang, he answered it.

"Phillip, how's school son?"

"Dad, I just caught word from one of the neighbours, you're needed at home"

"Phillip, this really isn't the best of times..."

"Dad, Mum's gone into labour"

Craig froze, beside himself with shock and trying to grasp how quickly things were changing around him, how desperate things now seemed.

His hand quivered on the back of the man, there was a fresh resistance to his every intention, and he suddenly pulled back. He composed himself, he took very deep breaths, and he closed his eyes tightly and thought of nothing but shame.

Steadily, he composed himself; the man had now turned to face him

"Come away from the edge"

"Give me a reason" the man said, this time with hope in his voice as he sensed Craig could give him the hope he was seeking.

"I'm about to become a father"

"A father?"

"To a baby, a beautiful spry young baby. A life. A new life, it awaits me, help me win this day so I can best celebrate it"

"A baby. New life" the man repeated for Craig.

"A new life, there is nothing to be afraid of, nothing to tire of, we all learn something again with a fresh generation, a fresh pair of eyes, nothing need stay broken, because the children, the children, can fix whatever problems we have, while presenting new ones for us to solve"

The man reached out and embraced Craig, he felt touched, complete, a whole new person. The baby may not be his, but what it _represented_, opportunity and hope, made him feel connected to the tapestry of life once again.

Craig swiftly returned home a hero, and arrived just in time for Rosemary to give birth. Some of the neighbours had been serving as mid-waves. The baby arrived just minutes after Craig came into the room.

"Told you I wouldn't have it without you present" she said.

"Cheeky monkey" Craig replied.

"Won't you be missed back at work?" Rosemary asked.

"Don't think there's a guv at the desk right now, work can wait, lives in the way, and that's always a good thing where you two are concerned"

Hours later, Phillip finally returned from school and looked proudly on as the responsibilities of a big brother dawned on him.

"I'll break the good news to my mates, they're waiting outside" he said.

"That reminds me, how was your first day at school Phillip?" Craig asked.

"Best school I've ever been to" Phillip replied, a distant look in his eyes, one Craig again recognised, the looks that had perplexed him since childhood.

And somehow he knew, somehow, this was never going to be the end of it.


End file.
